I will admit I am pretty partial to the Wii U, I try to not write about it to show favoritism, but it is in the news lately. So I will give my two cents. Recently, Nintendo has cut their sales forecasts of the Wii U from 9 million to 2.8 million. Since then, several reports are calling the Wii U a flop and calling for Nintendo to abandon the hardware side. Even with the cut, they are in good company at 2.8 million since Xbox and PS4 are sitting at 4 million right now.
But wait, I am sure you are asking, how is that in good company since they are released a year later and they are lower. Well, Nintendo hasn’t really done a good job of separating the Wii and Wii U. People whom I talk about the Wii U that haven’t played it, really do not know what it is. I think that is a major part of the problem. I am a strong fan of the Wii U. The abilities of what it does alone place it in the position to be at least #2 this generation. Honestly, unless Nintendo comes out swinging saying, “it does this and Xbox (or PS4) doesn’t” it could garner the attention. As a parent, I would much rather have my son on the MiiVerse than Facebook. That is just a very small piece of what the Nintendo has that Xbox and PS do not.
Granted, Nintendo seems to be in the same position that it was with the GameCube, not number one, but number 3. In this very competitive market, that is actually not a bad place to be. It really isn’t. But with the money Nintendo spent on the development on the Wii U, it will hurt. Nintendo also has some things that the others do not, names like Zelda (Link), Mario, Donkey Kong, Poke’ Mon and others. Will that be enough to bring it up? I am not sure. I think game continually being released on it will help. Games coming out, I am trying to buy on the Wii U as I have high hopes for the development companies to use the GamePad as it should.
Going Mobile
A lot of the cries have been for Nintendo to go into the mobile market, though I do not feel this will hurt them, there are also other things to consider. They have to be extremely careful how they do it. Placing Mario in a mobile game, I do not believe would be a smart idea, nor placing Zelda in a mobile game. Now placing Link, Diddy Kong, Charizard, and the Scribblenauts, not a bad idea. For characters that are looked at as Nintendo’s mascots need to stay in the Nintendo systems, no where else. If they were to put Mario or Zelda or Donkey Kong in the mobile market, it will lower the value of that character in it’s own game on Nintendo. Something that Nintendo would not do. You might say I am jaded to that, but I do not see a mobile game with other mascots in them, like Master Chief, Racthet and Clank, Jak and Daxter, or Sackboy. If Nintendo was do this it would hurt them, not help them.
But wait, I am sure you are asking, how is that in good company since they are released a year later and they are lower. Well, Nintendo hasn’t really done a good job of separating the Wii and Wii U. People whom I talk about the Wii U that haven’t played it, really do not know what it is. I think that is a major part of the problem. I am a strong fan of the Wii U. The abilities of what it does alone place it in the position to be at least #2 this generation. Honestly, unless Nintendo comes out swinging saying, “it does this and Xbox (or PS4) doesn’t” it could garner the attention. As a parent, I would much rather have my son on the MiiVerse than Facebook. That is just a very small piece of what the Nintendo has that Xbox and PS do not.
Granted, Nintendo seems to be in the same position that it was with the GameCube, not number one, but number 3. In this very competitive market, that is actually not a bad place to be. It really isn’t. But with the money Nintendo spent on the development on the Wii U, it will hurt. Nintendo also has some things that the others do not, names like Zelda (Link), Mario, Donkey Kong, Poke’ Mon and others. Will that be enough to bring it up? I am not sure. I think game continually being released on it will help. Games coming out, I am trying to buy on the Wii U as I have high hopes for the development companies to use the GamePad as it should.
Going Mobile
A lot of the cries have been for Nintendo to go into the mobile market, though I do not feel this will hurt them, there are also other things to consider. They have to be extremely careful how they do it. Placing Mario in a mobile game, I do not believe would be a smart idea, nor placing Zelda in a mobile game. Now placing Link, Diddy Kong, Charizard, and the Scribblenauts, not a bad idea. For characters that are looked at as Nintendo’s mascots need to stay in the Nintendo systems, no where else. If they were to put Mario or Zelda or Donkey Kong in the mobile market, it will lower the value of that character in it’s own game on Nintendo. Something that Nintendo would not do. You might say I am jaded to that, but I do not see a mobile game with other mascots in them, like Master Chief, Racthet and Clank, Jak and Daxter, or Sackboy. If Nintendo was do this it would hurt them, not help them.
Going Third Party
Although this seems more reasonable than going mobile, I do not see this in Nintendo’s immediate future. As a company Nintendo is very detail and control oriented. They want to make sure the consumer gets what they should from Nintendo. If Nintendo was to go third party, it would be at the point where Nintendo decides that it cannot make any console; home or handheld. As dooming as it may seem, if they don’t up the sales of the Wii U, it might be close.
Although this seems more reasonable than going mobile, I do not see this in Nintendo’s immediate future. As a company Nintendo is very detail and control oriented. They want to make sure the consumer gets what they should from Nintendo. If Nintendo was to go third party, it would be at the point where Nintendo decides that it cannot make any console; home or handheld. As dooming as it may seem, if they don’t up the sales of the Wii U, it might be close.
As a fan of this console, I sure hope not. I have been a fan of the Mario games, but console wise, I have not been a fan of the Nintendo console like this since the Nintendo 64. I have been trying to tell people about it to get them excited for it, but it is not enough. Nintendo will have to turn it around. With Super Mario 3D World coming out to critical acclaim, Hyrule Warriors, Super Smash Bros, Donkey Kong, Watch Dogs, and others coming out around the corner, I hope that will be enough to get people excited and buying it. Then again, you never know. I know I will be buying them.